DOCSLIB.ORG

José Portugal Dos Santos Ramos* - Bruna Frascolla**

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
José Portugal Dos Santos Ramos* - Bruna Frascolla** COMENTÁRIOS CONIMBRICENSES SOBRE OS METEOROLÓGICOS DE ARISTÓTELES José Portugal dos Santos Ramos* - Bruna Frascolla** Tratado Quinto dos Comentários Conimbricenses Sobre os Meteorológicos de Aristóteles The Fifth Treatise of the Conimbricenses’ Commentaries on Aristotle’s Meteorologica Abstract The aim of these considerations is to provide an overview of the explanations set out in the fifth treatise of the Commentaries on Aristotle’s Meteora, published by the Coimbra Jesuits in Lisbon, 1593. In order to introduce the Latin edition and the Portuguese translation of this treatise on the rainbow (an atmospheric phenomenon that, for philosophical, physical and methodological reasons deserved special attention from Antiquity until the Modern Age) we offer a summary of the Commentary’s main Proemium and of the fifth treatise itself. Keywords: Conimbricenses, Science, Meteorology, Rainbow. Resumo Estas considerações introdutórias pretendem fornecer uma breve introdução à edição bilíngue (latim- português) do quinto tratado dos Comentários sobre os Meteorológicos de Aristóteles publicados em 1593 em Lisboa como segundo volume do Curso Conimbricense da Companhia de Jesus. Esse tratado discute o arco-íris, um fenómeno atmosférico que, por razões filosóficas, físicas e metodológicas mereceu especial atenção desde a Antiguidade até à Idade Moderna. Palavras-chave: Conimbricenses, Ciência, Meteorologia, Arco-íris. * Membro do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Filosofia da Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. ** Doutora em Filosofia pela Universidade Federal da Bahia. © Mediaevalia. Textos e estudos, 35 (2016) pp. 115-122. DOI: http:/dx.doi.org/10.21747/21836884/med35a6 115 06-José P.indd 115 19/01/19 16:58 JOSÉ PORTUGAL DOS SANTOS RAMOS - BRUNA FRASCOLLA 1. Introdução1 Os Commentarii Collegi Conimbricensis Societatis Iesu in libros Meteororum Aristotelis Stagiritae, obra impressa em Lisboa na Tipografia de Simão Lopes em 15932 pelos mestres Jesuítas do Colégio das Artes3, inclui como seu tratado V uma completa discussão sobre o arco-íris. O tratado intitulado “De Iride sive arcu coelesti (Do arco-íris ou arco celeste)” está dividido em três capítulos intitulados: (i) As diversas opiniões dos filósofos acerca da natureza e origem do arco-íris; (ii) Acerca da origem do arco-íris, o que é necessário além disso para que ele seja sentido pelos espectadores? (iii) Da significação do arco-íris. O arco-íris é um fenómeno atmosférico que chamou a atenção de diversos pensadores ao longo da história da ciência, entre os quais se destacam Descartes e Newton no início da modernidade, Grosseteste e Rogério Bacon em meados do século XIII e Platão e Aristóteles na Antiguidade. Ao tratarem também do arco- íris a partir das diretrizes de um Curso magistral, os Conimbricenses surgem na história da filosofia natural estabelecendo uma continuação entre o pensamento antigo e a formação do pensamento moderno. A partir da sistematização dos conteúdos das obras de Aristóteles, os Conim- bricenses contribuíram significativamente para a restauração e revalorização do aristotelismo medieval no período da Segunda Escolástica (iniciada na Península Ibérica pelos esforços de Francisco de Vitória e dos seus discípulos em Salaman- ca)4. O Curso Conimbricense da Companhia de Jesus foi editado em cinco mon- umentais volumes correspondentes a oito tomos, entre 1591 e 1606, em Coimbra e em Lisboa. Embora a obra seja publicada sem menção de qualquer autor, sub- 1 Por José Portugal dos Santos Ramos. 2 A tradução foi realizada a partir da primeira edição: Commentarii Collegi Conimbricensis Societatis Iesu in libros Meteororum Aristotelis Stagiritae, Ex officina Simonis Lopesii, Olisipone 1593 (2ª edição: Sumptibus Horatii Cardon, Lugduni 1608). 3 Sobre as origens, publicação, estrutura, conteúdos e influência do curso, publicado em 8 tomos entre 1592 e 1606, veja-se a «Introdução geral» por de Mário Santiago de Carvalho ao volume Comentários do colégio Conimbricense da Companhia de Jesus sobre os três livros do Tratado da alma de Aristóteles Estagirita, tradução do original latino por Maria da Conceição CAMPS, Ed. Sílabo, Lisboa 2010, pp. 7-157 e Idem, Psicologia e ética no curso jesuíta conimbricense, Ed. Colibri, Lisboa 2010. 4 Cfr. C. DOS SANTOS ABRANCHES, «Origem dos Comentários à Metafísica de Aristóteles de Pedro da Fonseca», Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 2/1 (1946) 5-52. 116 06-José P.indd 116 19/01/19 16:58 COMENTÁRIOS CONIMBRICENSES SOBRE OS METEOROLÓGICOS DE ARISTÓTELES linhando assim a sua autoria coletiva, os comentários sobre os Meteorológicos, publicados em 1593, têm Manuel de Góis como seu principal autor5. A reunião dos comentários num curso integral pelos jesuítas de Coimbra permitiu ultrapassar o próprio propósito dos comentários, propondo um conjunto de pequenos tratados sobre problemas que se tinham constituído como centrais na evolução dos debates peripatéticos, tal como veremos com o tratamento dado ao fenómeno do arco-íris nos Comentários Sobre os meteorológicos. O plano de estudos dos jesuítas de Coimbra organizava-se do seguinte modo6: Primeiro ano Primeiro trimestre: De terminorum introductione; Dialectica; Porphyrii Isagoge. Segundo trimestre: In Aristotelis Praedicamenta; Perihermeneias; Topica (início). Terceiro trimestre: continuação dos Topica até ao Livro VII; Libri Ethicorum I-IV. Segundo ano Primeiro trimestre: Analytica Priora; VIII Topicorum; Analytica Posteriora (início). Segundo trimestre: Analytica Posteriora (continuação e conclusão); Libri Ethicorum V-VI. Terceiro trimestre: Libri Ethicorum VII-X; De Sophisticis Elenchis; Libri Physicorum I-II. Terceiro ano Primeiro trimestre: Libri Physicorum II-VIII. Segundo trimestre: De coelo et mundo; De generatione et corruptione; Metaphysica (início). Terceiro trimestre: Meteorologic I-IV; De anima I-II, Metaphysica (continuação). Quarto ano De anima III; Parva naturalia; Metaphysica (conclusão). 5 Cfr. P. GOMES, Os Conimbricenses, ed. Biblioteca Breve, Lisboa 1992, p. 56. 6 Cfr. GOMES, Os Conimbricenses, cit., pp. 29-30. 117 06-José P.indd 117 19/01/19 16:58 JOSÉ PORTUGAL DOS SANTOS RAMOS - BRUNA FRASCOLLA De acordo com Bacelar e Oliveira7 nos cursos estão presentes duas formas de dialética, as quais se intercalam na sua estruturação e exposição: a histórico- doutrinária e a puramente especulativa. O método utilizado é o silogístico, por ser considerado o mais claro e rigoroso na via da ciência. O quadro geral do contexto das questões, pela sua articulação racional, corresponde ao sistema interno do estabelecimento de cada prova e à fundamentação das conclusões. Outro elemento distintivo é a presença da Quaestio ou Disputatio, um esquema daquilo que faz a verdadeira disciplina da Filosofia: o desafio vivo da disputa. Tais características, como veremos, são manifestas ao longo dos Comentários sobre os Meteorológicos, especialmente no Tratado V desta obra. Os Conimbrinceses expõem em quatro partes e do seguinte modo a distribuição da Fisiologia de Aristóteles: 1) A primeira parte, que é contemplada nos livros da Física, trata dos princípios e causas das coisas naturais e suas qualidades comuns; 2) A segunda parte, compreendida nos livros Do céu e do mundo, investiga as partes passivas do ente móvel e trata da estrutura e da composição de todo o universo e dos cinco corpos simples – do céu e dos quatro elementos do mundo sublunar, enquanto são passíveis de mudança de lugar e possuem no mundo um lugar natural; 3) A terceira parte, que se ensina nos livros Sobre a geração e a corrupção, explica o que convém universalmente às coisas dissolúveis, tais como a geração, a corrupção, a alteração, o aumento e a mistura. 4) A quarta parte, em que os livros dos Meteorológicos concluem, mostra a doutrina dos mistos imperfeitos designados meteoros, tais como a neve, o gelo, o granizo, os cometas e ainda os que aparecem com o reflexo da luz, tal como o arco-íris, discutido no tratado que aqui se reedita e traduz pela primeira vez. Os Meteorológicos de Aristóteles são a fonte que inspira a elaboração dos Commentarii Collegi Conimbricensis Societatis Iesu in Libros meteororum Aristotelis Stagiritae. Segundo Alister C. Crombie8, os filósofos medievais inspirados pela física aristotélica entendem que os fenómenos meteorológicos são produzidos nas regiões do fogo e do ar, elementos cujo lugar natural está entre a esfera da lua e o globo da terra (e dos mares). Assinala Crombie que, ao tratar 7 Cfr. J. P. BACELAR E OLIVEIRA, «Filosofia Escolástica e Curso Conimbricense. De uma teoria de Magistério à sua sistematização Metodológica», Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia, 16 (1960) 124- 141. 8 Cfr. A. C. CROMBIE, Histoire des sciences: De Saint Augustin a Galilée (400-1650), Presses Universitaires de France, Paris 1959, pp. 83-84. 118 06-José P.indd 118 19/01/19 16:58 COMENTÁRIOS CONIMBRICENSES SOBRE OS METEOROLÓGICOS DE ARISTÓTELES desses fenómenos, Aristóteles alega que todas as mudanças observadas no céu são decorrentes dos próprios movimentos dos corpos celestes. Aponta também que nessa cosmologia o elemento do fogo era mais um princípio de combustão do que uma chama e, por consequência, não era efetivamente visível, mas entendido como um movimento facilmente inflamável, cuja agitação ocasionada pelas quentes e secas exalações que se elevavam da terra pela atuação dos raios do Sol, gerava um determinado número de fenómenos produzidos na esfera do fogo, como por exemplo os cometas, as estrelas cadentes e as auroras. Acrescenta ainda que todos estes fenómenos deveriam ser produzidos na região situada sob a Lua.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Robert Burton on the Society of Jesus and Coimbra
    Recebido em 22-06­‑2020 Revista Filosófica de Coimbra Aceite para publicação em 01­‑02­‑2021 vol. 30, n.º 59 (2021) ISSN: 0872 -0851 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14195/0872-0851_59_1 ROBERT BURTON ON THE SOCIETY OF JESUS AND COIMBRA CLÁUDIO CARVALHO1 Abstract: This article explores the ambiguous attitude of Robert Burton towards the Jesuits, focusing on his peculiar reading of the Commentarii Collegii Conimbri‑ censis Societatis Iesu. After a contextualization of the detraction of the Society of Jesus in Philosophaster, a lengthy teatral play, I will pass in review the Scholar’s references to the articulation of melancholy in the Coimbra textbooks throughout the Anatomy of Melancholy. In order to recognize and understand the specificities of Burton’s reading, marked by selective adaptations and imprecisions, I will essay a presentation of the Conimbricenses’ doctrine on the temperaments. I argue that, despite its richness, who- se echoes in Burton’s famous work are a fainted testimony, Manuel de Góis approach remained an obliterated episode in the medical and intellectual history of melancholy. This path will enable an understanding of therapeutic and organizational framework that underlies (and supplements) the Coimbran teaching. As it will become clear, this valences and applications of the Commentarii were largely ignored by Burton. Iro- nically, a significant part of his knowledge of distant lands, his travelling by “map and card” and his socioeconomic views on China, essential for the transition from an observation of melancholy into a melancholic observation, as reflected on the resort to satire and utopia as therapeutic means, benefited from the Jesuit’s mobilization of their pedagogic formation in overseas missions.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Self-Motion': Descartes and the Aristotelians on the Soul As the Life
    LIFE AS "SELF-MOTION": DESCARTES AND "THE ARISTOTELIANS" ON THE SOUL AS THE LIFE OF THE BODY SARAH BYERS DESCARTES'S ARGUMENTS THAT THE BODY can be considered a self- propelled machine rely on a misuse of the Aristotelian concept of "self-motion." They depend upon the premise that life is self-motion, the Aristotelian definition which Descartes learned from Latin hand- books at La F16che. By retaining this premise, Descartes believed he was defeating the Aristotelians on their own turf when he argued that soul is unnecessary for explaining life functions (self-motion). How- ever, his arguments fail to establish what he intended them to, be- cause whereas Aristotle meant the capacity for self-induced alteration (qualitative motion), Descartes interpreted "self-motion" as a refer- ence to the local motions of the constitutive parts of a body. That this was a misunderstanding, and not simply a disagreement with Aristo- tle's meaning, can be demonstrated from the Meditations, the Dis- course, the Treatise on Man, the Passions of the Soul, The World, and the letters. Owing to this misinterpretation, Descartes never actually addressed the Aristotelian theory, and so his physics leaves unre- solved a problem that Aristotle is able to solve by positing the soul as the life of the body, namely: Why do some things metabolize, but oth- ers do not? Surprisingly, these points have not yet been made. Though Des Chene has recently drawn attention to the question of "life" in Descartes, he has not noticed this.1 Michael Frede has noted that from Correspondence to: Department of Philosophy, Ave Maria University, 1025 Commons Circle, Naples, FL 34119.
    [Show full text]
  • Aristotelian Substance and Personalistic Subjectivity
    Aristotelian Substance and Personalistic Subjectivity Mark K. Spencer ABSTRACT: Many personalists have argued that an adequate account of the human person must include an account of subjectivity as irreducible to anything objectively definable. The personalists contend that Aristotle lacks such an account and claim that he fails to meet three criteria that a theory of the human person must fulfill in order to have an account of subjectiv- ity as irreducible. I show first that some later Aristotelians fulfill these criteria, and then that Aristotle himself also does so. He describes four characteristics of human subjectivity that are considered crucial by many personalists. I do this through an interpretation of Aristotle’s accounts of substantial actualities, nous, friendship, and beauty. N A SEMINAL ESSAY, Karol Wojtyła distinguishes two approaches to philo- Isophical anthropology. He calls one approach “objectivistic” and “cosmological.” When using this approach, one explains human beings and our actions using third- person terms, thereby treating us as objects of intentional cognitive acts. He calls the other approach “subjective” and “personalistic.” When using this approach, one explains human beings and our actions in first-person terms, that is, in terms of lived experience or “subjectivity,” thereby treating us as unique conscious subjects, “irreducible” to anything objectively observable or definable.1 In this paper I draw on both Wojtyła and other personalists as well as on some non-personalistic phenomenologists who have dealt with subjectivity in ways similar to the approach favored by the personalists. These thinkers hold that there are four characteristics of the human person that one must meet in order to satisfy the necessary conditions for having human subjectivity.
    [Show full text]
  • Instituto De Filosofia Da Universidade Do Porto 1. Some Notes on The
    PAULA OLIVEIRA E SILVA SOME NOTES ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE 16TH CENTURY MEDICAL LITERATURE ON THE NATURE OF EMOTIONS IN F. SUAREZ’S DE PASSIONIBUS Instituto de Filosofia da Universidade do Porto 1. Some notes on the concept of Iberian Scholasticism We commonly name as Second Scholasticism, Iberian Scholasticism or Baroque Scholasticism the intellectual movement structured around the School of Salamanca in the early sixteenth century which disseminated to other Spanish universities and the Portuguese universities of Coimbra and Évora in the second half of the same century. The doctrines explained by these scholars and flourished from this academic context are preserved either in printed or manuscript form, being its influence crucial in the outlining of the European forma mentis of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. However the designation «Second Scholasticism» is far from being agreed on among scholars, due to the lack of adaptability between the word and the reality it refers to. In fact, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, we can notice discontinuity to a certain extent in the scholastic teaching modelled in the universities of the thirteenth century on which it is based. Such remoteness from the medieval model is due to a complex set of factors and to the emergence of the movement designated as Renaissance Humanism. Nevertheless, even if this movement affected the European forma mentis, the medieval Scholastic paradigm did not disappear. In fact, it persisted throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, alongside the Renaissance Humanism 1, being influenced by it to the point that the concept of Scholastic 1 Charles NAUERT points out the continuity between the medieval age and the Renaissance, touching on more radical interpretations on the innovative character of the movement known as Renaissance 1 Humanism, apparently contradictory, can be introduced while also recognizing, in documents, that the exact characterization of the semantic content of the concept is still to be defined 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Craig Martin CAUSATION in DESCARTES' LES MÉTÉORES
    Craig Martin CAUSATION IN DESCARTES’ LES MÉTÉORES AND LATE RENAISSANCE ARISTOTELIAN METEOROLOGY INTRODUCTION Over seventy years ago, Étienne Gilson showed the parallels between Descartes’ Les météores and the Coimbrans’ textbook that was based on Aristotle’s Meteorology. The topics treated in Descartes’ work follow those found in the frequently-taught Jesuit textbook. They both discussed the formation of clouds, rain, rainbows and other lights in the sky, minerals and salts, and the cause of winds and earthquakes.1 The similarities do not end at the structure and topics treated that Gilson pointed out but extend to large portions of the treatises’ content. To be sure, differences appear, but many Aristotelian meteorological concepts are found throughout Descartes’ treatise without being changed at all or only in a minor way. Descartes’ Les météores was neither revolutionary, nor was it intended to be revolutionary. Les météores was first published in 1637 together with the Discours de la méthode, La géométrie, and La dioptrique. Some recent studies on Descartes’ physics and the Les météores have emphasized the eighth discourse where Descartes explained the rainbow through a geometrical analysis of refraction.2 This emphasis has given the appearance that his study on meteorology was part of Descartes’ larger goal of applying mathematics to natural philosophy as he did in the accompanying La dioptrique. Other studies, however, have emphasized the physical aspects of his account on the rainbow and how the deductive method Descartes used
    [Show full text]
  • Immanent Causation in Spinoza and Scholasticism
    Immanent Causation in Spinoza and Scholasticism by Stephen John Zylstra A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Toronto © Copyright by Stephen John Zylstra 2018 ABSTRACT Immanent Causation in Spinoza and Scholasticism Stephen John Zylstra Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Toronto 2018 Spinoza is well-known for his claim that God is the only substance that exists, and that everything else is a mere “mode” of that substance. At the same time, Spinoza maintains that all things depend causally on God for their being. But if all of reality is in some sense identical with God, in what manner can God be its cause? Spinoza’s answer is found in his claim that “God is the immanent, and not the transeunt, cause of all things.” In this thesis, I investigate the scholastic roots of this distinction and its implications for understanding the fundamental features of Spinoza’s monistic ontology. The scholastics commonly distinguish between two kinds of activities, one which “remains” in the subject doing it and the other which “passes” outside. Those classified as immanent were primarily mental operations like thinking and willing. The first part of this thesis examines how the scholastics disagree over whether this kind of activity ought to be construed as a kind of production; the nature of its relation to its subject; and ii whether it is produced by means of ‘emanation’. The concept of an immanent cause emerges within this context. In the second part of this thesis, I bring this research to bear on our understanding of Spinoza’s metaphysics.
    [Show full text]
  • Curriculum Vitae
    James B. South Associate Dean for Faculty Professor Department of Philosophy Marquette University Areas of Specialization: Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy, Stanley Cavell and Ordinary Language Philosophy, Aesthetics Areas of Concentration: Social and Political Philosophy, Marx, Critical Theory Degrees B.A., University of South Carolina, 1981 (Ancient Greek and Philosophy) M.A., University of South Carolina, 1990 (Philosophy) Ph.D., Duke University, 1995 (Philosophy) Academic Candidate, Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute (2013 – present) M.S. in Psychology, Alverno College (2015 – present) Academic Experience Marquette University, Professor of Philosophy, 2017— Marquette University, Associate Professor of Philosophy, 2002—2017 Marquette University, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, 1995 – 2002 Duke University, Instructor in Philosophy, 1991– 1994 Duke University, Talent Identification Program, 1990 – 1995 Languages Strong Reading Knowledge: Ancient Greek, Latin, French, Italian Moderate Reading Knowledge: German, Spanish Professional Employment and Accomplishments Marquette University a) Associate Dean for Faculty, Klingler College of Arts and Sciences (September 2013 – present) Responsible for providing administrative support on all matters pertaining to over 300 full-time and part-time faculty including professional activities and development; coordinating the College faculty hiring process and preparation of materials for the Dean’s review and approval; work with the Office of Institutional Research and Support in development and
    [Show full text]
  • Libertus Fromondus' Escape from the Labyrinth of the Continuum
    LIBERTUS FROMONDUS’ ESCAPE FROM THE LABYRINTH OF THE CONTINUUM (1631) CARLA RITA PALMERINO* Abstract This article is concerned with a previously little studied work, the Labyrinthussivede compositionecontinuiliberunus(1631),in which Libertus Fromondus attacked the atom- istic theory, which at the time was finding supporters at the University of Louvain. I try to identify Fromondus’ sources and polemical targets, to summarise his mathematical and physical arguments against atomism, and to understand his nominalist solution to the prob- lem of the composition of the continuum. Moreover, I situate the Labyrinthusin the context of seventeenth-century theories of matter and motion and attempt to provide new evidence of Fromondus’ possible influence on Galileo and of his undeniable influence on Leibniz. Keywords: Libertus Fromondus – Galileo Galilei – Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – composition of the continuum – atomism 1. Introduction Between December 1628 and August 1629, Pierre Gassendi undertook an extended tour of the Low Countries, which had a profound impact on the develop- ment of his Epicurean project. Having originally planned to compose an apology of Epicurus’ life and ethical teaching, Gassendi left the Low Countries with the conviction that he would have to extend his study in order to cover the whole of Epicurean philosophy. The episode that contributed the most to this change of mind was probably his encounter in Dordrecht with Isaac Beeckman, whom Gas- sendi described in a letter as ‘the best philosopher I have ever met’.1 Also impor- tant was his sojourn at Louvain, where Gassendi was the guest of Erycius Pute- anus, the author of an EpicurisententiaealiquotaculeataeexSeneca(1609), which he had recently read.
    [Show full text]
  • The Preservation of the Whole and the Teleology of Nature in Late Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern Debates on the Void
    Manzo, Silvia The Preservation of the Whole and the Teleology of Nature in Late Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern Debates on the Void Journal of Early Modern Studies 2013, vol. 2, nro. 2, p. 9-34 Manzo, S. (2013). The Preservation of the Whole and the Teleology of Nature in Late Medieval, Renaissance and Early Modern Debates on the Void. Journal of Early Modern Studies, 2 (2), 9-34. En Memoria Académica. Disponible en: http://www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/art_revistas/pr.10044/pr.10044.pdf Información adicional en www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar Esta obra está bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-CompartirIgual 4.0 Internacional https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ ������������������������ �������� � ������������������������������� � ������������������������ �������������������������� ����������������� ��������������������������� ����� ����������������� ����������� ������������������ ������������������ ���������������������������� ����������������������������� ������������������������ ������������ � ������������������������ �������� � � ����������� � � ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����� �������������� ������������ ���� ���� �������� �������� ���� ��������� ��������� �������� ��� �� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • Mediæval Philosophical Texts in Translation Complete List
    Mediæval Philosophical Texts in Translation Complete List Numbers 28 and following (below) have active links to separate pages with more information. To order please go to Order Books tab on Home Page or click here Under the Editorship of Gerard Smith, SJ Grosseteste. On Light. Clare Riedl, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑201‑8 (Translation No. 1, 1942). 28 pp. $5 St. Augustine. Against the Academicians. Mary Patricia Garvey, R.S.M., Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑202‑6. (Translation No. 2, 1942). 94 pp. $10 Pico Della Mirandola. Of Being and Unity. Victor M. Hamm, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑203‑4. (Translation No. 3, 1943). 40 pp. $10 Francis Suarez. On the Various Kinds of Distinctions. Cyril Vollert, SJ, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑204‑2. (Translation No. 4, 1947). 72 pp. $10 St. Thomas Aquinas.On Spiritual Creatures. Mary C. Fitzpatrick, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑205‑0. (Translation No. 5, 1949). 144 pp. $15 Guigo. Meditations of Guigo. John J. Jolin, SJ, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑206‑9. (Translation No. 6, 1951). 96 pp. $10 Giles of Rome. Theorems on Existence and Essence. Michael V. Murray, SJ, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑207‑7. (Translation No. 7, 1953). 128 pp. $15 John of St. Thomas.Outlines of Formal Logic. Francis C. Wade, SJ, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑208‑5. (Translation No. 8, 1955). 144 pp. $15 Hugh of St. Victor. Soliloquy in the Earnest Money of the Soul. Kevin Herbert, Tr. ISBN 0‑87462‑209‑3. (Translation No. 9, 1956). 48 pp. $5 Under the Editorship of James H. Robb St. Thomas Aquinas.On Charity.
    [Show full text]
  • Late-Scholastic and Cartesian Conatus Rodolfo Garau*
    Intellectual History Review, 2014 Vol. 24, No. 4, 479–494, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17496977.2014.971616 Late-scholastic and Cartesian conatus Rodolfo Garau* Università di Torino, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany Introduction Conatus (“striving”) is a specific concept within Descartes’s physics. In particular, it assumes a crucial importance in the purely mechanistic description of the nature of light – an issue that Des- cartes considered one of the most crucial challenges, and major achievements, of his natural phil- osophy. According to Descartes’s cosmology, the universe – understood as a material continuum in which there is no vacuum – is composed of a number of separate yet interconnected vortices. Each of these vortices consists in a set of bands rotating around their centres. The bands are com- posed of corpuscles of the three elements, each distinguished on the basis of their different shapes and sizes. The small globules of the second element (of which the heavens are mainly composed), although impeded by the other parts of heaven, strive to move away from the centre of the vortex around which they revolve, thus exerting a certain force against the surrounding bodies. This striving or conatus, though a mere force rather than a genuine motion, is transmitted instan- taneously and along straight lines from body to body. According to Descartes, then, the nature of light consists in this striving alone. This account must be understood as strictly connected to the fundamental laws that regulate the Cartesian world. It is particularly important to recall that for Descartes the centrifugal force exerted by a rotating body is understood to be a consequence of the intrinsic rectilinearity of every motion.
    [Show full text]
  • Scholastic Logic and Cartesian Logic
    Scholastic Logic and Cartesian Logic Lucian Petrescu FNRS-Université libre de Bruxelles 1. Introduction As Roger Ariew shows, one of the most fascinating challenges for the authors trying to create a Cartesian complete course on philosophy was com- ing up with a Cartesian Logic based on the existing texts of the master (Ariew 2014). Were the few simple rules from the Discourse on Method the “logic” of Descartes? Were the Rules for the Direction of the Mind “logic”? How can we even have a logic without syllogism? When looking at the authors stud- ied by Ariew one finds that the best that they could come up was adding some Cartesian elements on what remains basically a traditional Aristotelian Logic. It seems that there was no Cartesian Logic after all. I want to show here that Cartesian Logic is something else, not exactly “Logic” in the way that was taught in the first year of college, but some- thing meant to replace Aristotelian Logic once we have done away with syllogism. A treatise such as the Rules for the Direction of the Mind belongs to a new genre, one that comes out of the transformation of Aristotelian Logic in the early seventeenth century. I call this genre the “Art of dis- course.” In the Cartesian corpus the most complete incarnation of this genre is to be found in the (incomplete) Regulae; the preface written for the Essays of 1637, the Discourse on Method, while containing some elements of the art of discourse such as the famous “rules,” remains a preface and not a system- atic treatise.
    [Show full text]